Happy long weekend all. A heads-up that next Wednesday you will want to dance with us to Henry Cole's Afrobeat Collective, with the Gilad Hekselman Quartet. And now, these links:
The Library of Congress has gradually been digitizing and archiving its talks and concerts on YouTube. It's often classical and non-Western music, but plenty of jazz bits too. There are interviews with Dave Brubeck, Henry Butler, Guillermo Klein, Dafnis Prieto, Jim Hall, etc. Plus, full concert performances from Uri Caine and Lionel Loueke.
Whither the modern standard? More from Alternate Takes.
Drummer Ralph Peterson, coming up on his 50th birthday, is profiled in the Daily News. The former Jazz Messenger was actually failed by his freshman percussion audition, he says. New album, The Duality Perspective, coming soon — I quite like it.
Neneh Cherry, Swedish pop star and step-daughter of Don Cherry, talks about her upcoming collaboration with Scandinavian free-jazz trio The Thing, called The Cherry Thing. (I quite like this too.) Fun fact: The Thing was named after a piece by her stepfather.
Pianist Steve Kuhn is profiled in the Ottawa Citizen. The 74-year-old hit the New York scene in 1959 and is still at it, releasing a new album earlier this year.
An Ethiopian jazz piano prodigy, Samuel Yirga, is profiled in the Australian newspaper The Age prior to a gig in Melbourne. Haven't heard his music, but the article says he's invested in reimagining Ethiopian music of the '20s and '30s.
Jack DeJohnette interview at the CBC online. The 70-year celebration of the great drummer continues.
Saxophonist Chris Potter is profiled at The Australian. I like how the writer establishes the intense fandom some have for him (with good reason, mind you). "A story in The New York Times last year noted the crowd of music students at one of his live shows, the young men sitting rapt as he played. ('It's always men,' he points out.)"
Wynton Marsalis and Kenny G may be more alike than different. The always insightful soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome weighs in.
A Jaco Pastorius documentary is on the way from ... Metallica's bassist, Robert Trujillo. Like for many electric bassists, Jaco was an early hero. From USA Today.
Nazi Germany outlawed jazz and other supposedly "degraded" rhythms. But the Nazis also kept a syncopated dance band around for propaganda purposes. Smithsonian.com tells the history.
The jazz scare of the '20s, as detailed at a Libertarian website.
The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is losing annual public funding, it learned weeks before releasing a major-label album (Celebration, ECM Records) with bassist Arild Andersen. The change is part of a restructuring in the Scottish national arts agency.
25 Years of Linda Yohn, WEMU jazz radio host.
John Zorn: The Guardian primer to his career. The sort of thing makes sense for an artist who is so incredibly eclectic.
The first ever jazz review: Who wrote it, exactly?
On The Road, the Jack Kerouac novel steeped in jazz scenes, is now actually a movie. It debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. "Most early reviews were negative."
Gene Kelly and Chicago jazz culture.
This is by far my favorite response so far to Kurt Ellenberger's guest post this week.
Miles Davis is already getting a U.S. Postal Service stamp — and now, a statue in his birthplace, too.
Charlie Parker's saxophone is expected to fetch $30-35 thousand at auction.
The Jazz Session spoke with harmonica player Gregoire Maret and drummer Tomas Fujiwara.
The Checkout broadcast Kendrick Scott's band live.
Elsewhere at NPR Music:
JazzSet features Alexis Cuadrado's "A Lorca Soundscape" project.
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz features Daniela Schaechter.
Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux plays guest DJ and betrays her passion for jazz.
Sonnymoon, a band with jazz affinities, is featured on Song of the Day.
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